Second Chances
by Cheerfully Cynical
Summary: Toni Maria Stark was a person who believed in second chances. Apparently, having this belief had a habit of getting her in trouble. For example, one green eyed god. When she realizes that Loki may be innocent of all crimes against him, she just has to try and save him…And find herself along the way. FEMALE TONY. Toni/Loki
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Heeelllooo good people! Okay, I have read (and re-read) some of the most amazing female Toni fan fictions. Not only that, but I have read some fantastic Toni and Loki fan fiction. Alas, I don't believe that this pairing has enough love.**

 **So, I decided to add my own idea. Enjoy!**

 **Title: Second Chances**

 **Description: Toni Maria Stark was a person who believed in second chances. Apparently, having this belief had a habit of getting her in trouble. For example, one green eyed god. When she realizes that Loki may be innocent of all crimes, you better be sure that she's going to try and save him…And find herself along the way. FEMALE TONY. Toni/Loki**

 **Rating: T for Violence and Cussing.**

 **Disclaimer: I literally own nothing.**

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Toni Stark didn't know what she was doing.

Sure, she had been in Afghanistan, tortured for days. She had been in numerous battles. She had been betrayed by those closest to her.

But this? This was something else entirely.

Aliens, gods, Asgard, nuclear deterrents… Was there anything right with this world?

But all of that didn't matter. At this very moment, she had to deal with the god of mischief and lies himself.

As her suit detached itself from her, she had a chance to stare directly into Loki's eyes, and a spark went off in her brain.

She had read and reread each and every file on both Thor and Loki. Every picture of them she had memorized in her brain somewhere.

In every single picture of Loki, his eyes were a vibrant green.

Now, watching him, his posture, his pale complexion, his _blue_ eyes, she realized that the symptoms that he had were similar to Agent Barton's.

Was it possible that Loki was under the same influence?

She thought about Thor's dedication to his brother. She wondered what could've possibly pried the two of them apart. Was it never getting the throne? Maybe that had been part of it. But what led up to his hunger for power? Could it have possibly been that he was adopted? Hadn't Thor mentioned that? Or maybe, like most typical physcopaths, he was simply a recluse as a child (was a god ever considered a child?) and was pushed away by his peers. Who the hell were his peers?

All of it was too much, and she was quickly losing track of what the main question was at the moment; was Loki being brainwashed or not.

Going with her gut, because at this point there was really no other option, she decided to hope for the best. Maybe she could somehow get JARVIS to deploy the Iron Man suit and smash him in the head. Hopefully, the hit to the head would be powerful enough to bring him back to normal.

The device was finally done taking off her useless suit, and she slowly but, as confidently as she could, walked to where Loki was waiting.

"Please tell me you are going to appeal to my humanity." Loki gave her a smirk. It only served to highlight his eyes.

"Uh…" Toni replied, distracted for a moment in her thoughts. "Actually," She said. She gave him back a confident smile of her own, "I'm planning to threaten you."

To exaggerate, she headed to the bar and pulled out a shot glass loudly, making sure his eyes were on her hands.

"You should have left your armor on for that." He commented. Toni could tell that he liked this; this meaning the ability to play a mind game using only words and body language.

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage." Speaking of which, she placed the shot glass down and poured herself a drink, all the while slipping on the metal cuffs that activated her suit. "You've got the blue stick of destiny." She added, making sure to let him know that he was still, technically, in control. "Would you like a drink?

"Stalling me won't change anything." He almost said it as a question.

"No, no, no!" Toni replied, beginning to calm down now that she had some sort of protection. "Threatening." His eyebrow rose just enough so she would notice. She decided to throw him off. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

"The Chitauri are coming," He said instead, ignoring her useless comment. For some reason that she couldn't understand, he looked worried. "Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

Anger rushed through her. "The Avengers." She added casually.

Loki actually turned to look at her, a question in his eyes. He finally looked interested in what she was saying.

"It's what we call ourselves." Toni said. "Sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

Loki smiled sarcastically. "Yes, I've met them."

She smiled right back at him. "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one."

He walked slightly away from her, already losing interest in what she was saying. Her voice rose due to emphasis. "But," she said fiercely. "Let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every. Single. One of them."

Suddenly, so quick that Toni had no time to react, he was right in front of her. "Tell me, Miss Stark," He said, almost mockingly, "do you not credit yourself in this?"

For once, a question had left her speechless.

"Oh come now," He almost purred. "A woman who sits on a throne of technology; a throne of magic. That is quite a threat."

"Well," She replied as steadily as she could. "You're not wrong."

Instead of walking away like she expected, he only got closer. So close now that she could clearly see his eyes. "Not wrong indeed. A woman who is five steps ahead of everyone around her. Now," His directness made her take a step back. Her back crashed into the bar, holding her in place. "That would make a fine ruler."

"What?" She replied in shock, honestly confused as to where this had come from. What was he getting at?

He finally allowed her her space. He backed up slightly. "You are going to lose." He replied so confidently that Toni actually felt a pang of fear run through her chest. "Why not align yourself with the winning side?"

"You can't honestly believe what you're saying?" She asked, ignoring the way her heart was pounding. She decided to disregard the creepy suggestion. "Listen to me," She said whole heartedly. "There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."

For a brief second, she saw it; she saw the blue fade back to its green. She saw his eyes slam close in pain. The green was gone so fast that it was hard to believe it was there in the first place. Loki turned his full attention to her again. Her heartrate increased. The man (god) she was talking to five minutes ago was gone. He was replaced with whatever puppet was controlling him. She was sure of it.

"How will your friends have time for me when they're so busy fighting you?" The scepter tapped her chest, but all that was heard was the light ' _ting'_ noise coming from her reactor.

Surprised, Loki did it again with the same results. "This usually works." He told her, honestly confused.

Relieved to the point of smiling, she answered: "Performance issues, you know."

Instead of answering, he rushed at her, grabbing her by the throat and actually lifting her up from the ground. Reacting out of instinct, she clawed at his hands, hissing the name "JARVIS."

He growled; the only reaction he had to her claw marks. He moved towards the window, obviously intending to throw her out of it.

"JARVIS. Deploy!" She hissed urgently. He squeezed harder. "Now!"

It was too late, Loki violently threw her out the window. All she knew was falling. She spun in the air, watching as her suit rushed out at her. She spread her limbs, giving her tech the best possible advantage for hooking on to her.

As soon as it was on, she blasted off, her thrusters barely missing the people below.

She breathed a sigh of relief. _That_ was close.

"J, you manage to hit him in the head?"

"I am sorry Miss," She groaned. "I was unable to do so due to your impending death."

"Dammit." She muttered. Reacting before thinking, she flew back up to the tower.

The angry face of Loki instantly greeted her. She reveled in the fact that her life was pissing the real enemy off.

"And there's one more person you pissed off." She fired up her repulsor. "His name was Phil!"

As soon as Loki was about to fire at her with the glow stick of destiny, she fired, making sure to hit him directly in the chest. Even a god couldn't stop the damage of her repulsor. He was thrown back, probably not getting up for at least another minute.

All the while, before she had a second to catch her breath, the portal had opened up above the city.

Her mouth dropped open. "Right…" She said instead, trying to ground herself. "Army."

Without a second thought, she rushed at the portal, sending what she called Jericho point 2 into it. The blast itself destroyed a good number of them, but it did almost nothing against the sheer force amount of them.

"Right, Loki." She said, her brain switching back and forth between protecting the city and saving an innocent god.

Before she could think of a way to contact Thor in order to ask him some questions of her own, her intercom dinged, alerting her of an incoming message.

"Stark," The voice of Natasha Romanoff answered, much to her relief. "We're heading north east."

"What?" She asked sarcastically, firing at more of the ugly bastards. "Did you stop at drive-thru?" They continued to follow her. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

Toni blasted around her tower, making sure that the Quinjet was in view of the aliens. Instantly, Natasha fired. Looking around, she saw Thor and Loki were savagely fighting each other.

"Natasha," Toni asked through the comm while blasting more soldiers. "Does Thor have a comm?"

"Yeah, but why-"

"Tell you in a bit." She interrupted. "Hey, Thor." She said to the different link. "Don't say anything, but I have a thought about your brother." She had to pause in order to blast through five other aliens. One managed to hit her, her shoulder taking the brunt of the blast. She held in her groan. "His eyes, they're green, right? 'Cuz they look pretty damn blue from my point of view."

Knowing that Point Break was smart enough to know what she was saying, she shut her comm off. She had seen the Quinjet fall due to Loki's blast and it was her responsibility to make sure that her little team was okay.

Sure enough, Hawkeye, the asshole himself, and Natasha were already out of it, fighting off more of them from the ground. Before she could comment something stupid about them looking like a team, a deep loud ' _roar'_ from the portal stopped her in her tracks.

Looking up, an actual Leviathan managed to come out of the god damn portal. The large, disgusting worm-looking thing carried hundreds of soldiers. Her mouth dropped open once again. No fucking way.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Black Widow asked, a little bit of fear coming off in her voice. Toni couldn't help but agree with her.

"I'm seeing," She replied, still hovering in the air. "still working on believing." A thought so wild popped into her head that she missed one of the Chitauri by a mile. Wouldn't Banner be able to slap some sense into Loki?

In real words, wouldn't Banner be strong enough to slam Loki so hard to the ground that he would return to whoever the hell he actually was.

"That could work." Toni said a loud, mulling the idea over. She was already certain that the doctor would eventually show up.

"What could work?" Captain asked with a grunt, obviously still fighting some of the beasts.

"Nothing." She replied curtly, aiming one of her miniature multiple rocket launcher at the leviathan and firing. The explosions did little to nothing except to annoy the huge monster.

"We got his attention!" She told them below, quickly making a small retreat.

She hovered above the idiots, making sure that none of the Chitauri from above didn't surprise any of them. Unfortunately, it seemed too much for all of them. Toni was now supporting a pain in her shoulder and leg, and was finding it hard to breathe. Below, she witnessed Captain take a good hit in the gut. Widow and Hawkeye were hiding behind a wrecked car.

Before she could try to help, Thor literally dropped in from the sky. His thunder rained down upon the Chitauri and at least twenty of them died instantly. She whistled, impressed.

"What's the story upstairs?" Captain asked.

"The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor answered. Toni wondered whether or not he was able to 'fix' Loki.

"Thor is right," She answered instead, "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Widow asked, some uncertainly in her tone. Once again, Toni couldn't blame her.

"As a team." Steve Rogers replied confidently. For once, Toni felt something akin to loyalty flash through her.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor said, much to Toni's disappointment. That meant that Thor was unable to help Loki.

"Yeah," Hawkeye added, "get in line."

"Save it," Captain cut in, much to Toni's relief. She couldn't deal with having to explain to the recently brain washed man that Loki was innocent. She was sure that conversation would go well. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need." Toni nodded to herself, surprised to be agreeing with him. "Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, she's gonna need us-"

Over the comms, Toni heard the sound of a small engine appear. It stopped suddenly.

"So," She heard lowly. She could barely pick up Banner's voice over the other's comms. "this all seems horrible."

She held in her insane urge to laugh.

"I've seen worse." Natasha commented neutrally. Toni would bet her tower that that was Natasha's version of a jibe.

"Sorry." Banner commented, not at all angry at her manner.

"No, it's okay. We could use worse."

"Banner!" Toni said with a cheerful tone, cutting off the moment. She had more important things to worry about. "Knew you couldn't resist the party."

"Stark, you know he can't hear you, right?" Natasha asked her, obviously confused. Toni smiled to herself. She was hoping someone was going to comment on that.

"Then give the man a comm!" She said, faking exasperation. "Bruce! Welcome back."

"Erm…" He said awkwardly. "Thanks."

"I would suggest suiting up, greeny. I'm bringing the party to you." She flew up to the Leviathan, taunting it by shooting a repulsor at it, then quickly flew back to their location, knowing the Hulk's strength would be enough to handle the repulsive thing.

"I…" Black Widow trailed off for a second, "I don't see how that's a party…"

She ignored that hilariously timed comment and began her descent down the street, making sure that the Leviathan was following her. Well, she didn't really need to look back. She could hear its tough skin crash into the street.

"Dr. Banner." Cap said, his voice portraying some of the fear he felt. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain." Much to Toni's surprise, Bruce sounded almost calm. "I'm always angry."

Before her eyes, Bruce _changed._ In seconds, his tiny frame morphed into the beast that she had only seen videos of. In one more second, the Hulk lashed out with a fist. The force of his punch sent the Leviathan to a full stop, causing it to flip over in a three sixty.

"Oh shit." Toni muttered. In mid-flight, she extended her arm in order to launch a rocket into the soft flesh of the beast. It _exploded._ Its flesh was left sizzling on the pavement.

Toni rushed back to the ground, making sure that they were alright. Before she could ask if they were okay (in the most uncaring way possible), the Chitauri around them let out loud war cries. Before she knew it, they were surrounded. She turned her back to the Avengers, attempting to protect one side of their flank.

And in that moment, she knew that they were a team.

Above, more Chitauri emerged from the portal. So many of them that Toni was doubtful of winning.

"Guys." Natasha asked.

"Call it, Cap." Toni said, trusting in his ability to lead. This was not the time for petty fighting.

Alright, listen up." He said, his voice unwavering. "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Wanna give me a lift?" Hawkeye asked her.

"Right," She said, realizing that not everyone had the capability to fly. Man, her brain was a mess. "Better clench up, Legolas." She grabbed him by the back of his uniform.

"And Hulk." She heard over the comms. "Smash."

Hulk _roared_ into her headset. And he was off. A blur of motion indicated where the Hulk's next target was.

"Let's do this!" She said, circling the perimeter. "J, hook me up to only Banner."

"Hulk!" She yelled into the comm. "Can you hear me?"

"Hulk hear tiny metal woman."

Toni laughed. "Great! I need you to do something."

"Hulk do anything for nice metal woman!"

Toni laughed again. She was shocked at how verbal he was. Bruce described Hulk as a monster. He seemed to be anything but! "I need you to take care of Loki."

"Loki man with ugly horns?"

"Yes!" She said, excited that he was actually understanding her. "Exactly!"

"Hulk do as asked."

"Hulk, buddy, you are my favorite." Relieved, she now could focus on the Chitauri that were trailing behind her. After that, she could make sure that Hulk didn't kill Loki. Hopefully it took a lot to kill a god.

"Hulk like tiny woman too."

Surprised, she nearly plowed right into a building. Instincts kept her in the air. Did she just gain Hulk's friendship?

"Stark," Barton interrupted her thoughts. "You got a lot of strays sticking to your tail."

"Just trying to keep them off the streets." She responded.

"Well, they can't bank worth a damn." He told her. "Find a tight corner."

She made a series of tight turns. Unfortunately, some of them didn't crash right away, and one of them managed to get her pretty good in the upper leg. The metal of her suit concaved in and managed to protrude into her leg.

"Miss," JARVIS said urgently, "I suggest an-"

"Save it!" Knowing that he was going to suggest a numbing agent. "Probably going to need it later."

One more tight turn, and it appeared that the Chitauri that refused to get off her tail were finally gone. "Huh," She said to Barton. "Nice call. What else you got?"

"Well," Hawkeye said back in the same tone. Instantly, she realized that she was going to like this man's attitude. "Thor's taking on a squadron down on 6th."

"And he didn't invite me." She flew off to help the loveable idiot. She was greeted by a mass of Chitauri swarming over the god. She used her suit to slam into a row of them, then landed in the middle of the mass. She fired at two of the Chitauri that held Thor. As soon as Thor was released, he lifted the hammer to the sky and called down lightning. He killed at least ten of them within the next second.

"Friend Stark." He said before she could fly off. "Thank you."

Confused, she lifted up her helmet in order to read his expression. "For what?"

"For not giving up on my brother."

Uncomfortable by Thor's blunt honestly, she shuffled her feet and threw down the Iron Man mask. "Yeah well," She said, lifting up from the ground, "everyone deserves a second chance."

She blasted off. She could deal with Thor's… gratitude later. Right now, she had to check and see if Hulk had any luck with the god.

Wait a second, where the hell would the god be?

"JARVIS, what's Hulk's location?"

"Hulk is currently in the top floor of the tower. He is… battling Loki."

"Not invited again!" She exclaimed, more than happy that Hulk was dealing with Loki. Time to have another chat with the Reindeer Games. She flew over to her, mostly destroyed, tower. She was unhappy to see that the only letter left was an ironic 'A'.

She landed, spotting Loki literally slammed into a god shaped hole in the ground. She winced. What were the possibilities of him surviving that?

"Loki?" She called, inching her way towards the unmoving specimen. She wasn't willing to get jumped by him. However, she did flip her face mask up in order to better see his expression.

"Loki!" She yelled, attempting to spring the god up. This time, she heard a groan. Grinning at his misfortune (he kind of did still kill Phil), she moved to help him…. And ended up wincing again. Loki's face was a mess. Two cuts on his lip, a bleeding head wound, and a bruise the size of her fist covered the right side of his face. Well, at least she knew that Hulk managed to hit / slam him in the head.

"Are you here to mock me?" Loki asked her, not attempting to get up from his position.

"Well, maybe a little." She said, giving him one of her arms. It was a risky move. This gave him an easy advantage point to harm her. "Mostly I'm here to check on a hypothesis."

"Oh, really?" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And what," He grabbed her hand and hefted himself up from the ground. Toni was surprised at his ability to heal so fast and at willingness to let a mere mortal help him up. "pray tell, is your hypothesis?"

"That you're innocent." His head immediately snapped to her gaze. "Your eyes," She said, nodding her head in his direction. "They're green, aren't they?"

If Loki had any strength, Toni was positive the he would have attacked her just to spite her. But, for now, he was left leaning heavily on the wall. He let out a dark chuckle. "You gambled your safety on eye color? How very… Trusting." He said mockingly.

"Not trusting." She said, not liking where this was going. She wasn't one to prep talk someone. "Just a person who believes in second chances."

His eyes snapped up to hers again. He looked beyond shocked. However, what with the title of God of Mischief and Lies, Toni was not surprised when Loki managed to hide his disbelief the instant after she caught it.

Instead, he gave her a smile that sent shivers down her spine. "And what? Now you bring me to Thor's justice?"

Her eyes narrowed. For the God of Lies, he didn't seem to have a grasp on who _isn't_ lying. "I don't know." She replied. "I was hoping you had a way to stop the Chitarui, but seeing as how much of a dick you are, maybe I'll just hand you over to Fury instead."

So quick that Toni had no time to react ( _caught off guard again, dammit.)_ , Loki headed towards her, his hand outstretched. A green mist surrounded his hand.

"Don't taunt me, mortal." He hissed. "I am not beyond stopping you."

"Please," She scoffed. She was aware of the danger she was in, but was willing to chalk it up as man pride. If she could convince him that he really had his best interests at heart, maybe they could work together. "if you were going to do anything, you would have done it the moment I held my hand out to you."

He lowered his hand, but his murderous expression did not change. Toni took that as a win.

"If the Chitauri, or whoever the hell is running this thing, was controlling you, I'd bet my suit that he'll come after you when they find out that you're back to your usual asshole self. Your part in all of this can't be over."

"Smart." He replied darkly. "I'll give you that much."

"Enough with the crap!" She told him, done with talking. "Either you help us close this portal, or you get taken out by the Chitauri. There's _no_ other option, and I know you know it. Maybe you don't want to help Thor, maybe you have too much hate for him, but this is about _my_ planet and I will not let one _god_ kill thousands."

She was so furious that her breath was labored.

"If I help you," He said lowly, "if I close that portal, _he_ will be back. There is no stopping him."

"I'll take it." She said instantly. "Better to delay something this horrible than do nothing at all."

He nodded, accepting that answer. "The scepter." He said, walking over to the bar. "Its power is connected to the tesseract."

Her brain went off. "Only something as equally powerful as the tesseract can destroy it."

Surprised, he nodded. "Yes."

She slammed the Iron Man mask back on.

"Time to save the world." She muttered. "Loki," She said sincerely before blasting off. "Thank you."

Before he could say anything else, she was off. The last place she had seen the scepter was on the roof of the tower. She spotted it right by her armor detacher, and she quickly snatched it.

Unexpectedly, she spotted Loki below. Green mist encircled his person, but the more alarming thing was the amount of Chitauri surrounding him. At least thirty of them had their spears pointed at the god. Jeez, was this guy the freakin' attraction of all evil? She had barely left him alone for four minutes! She placed the scepter down near the tesseract.

"Loki!" She called, rushing down. Her best strategy for this was to go right into the mess and fight besides Loki. There was too many of them for him to defend off by himself.

With her back to him, she blasted three of the horrid monsters. Behind her, she could hear the cries of pain that Loki was causing the Chitauri. However, the force was massive. For each one she took out, three more appeared.

Thinking about it, she realized that Loki and herself worked flawlessly. When a force became too much for either of them, without words the both of them would switch. Both knew what the other one planned before whatever it was was set in motion. It was a mock version of a dance.

Soon enough, Loki cried out behind her. She turned, an advantage point for the enemy, and fired at the one that hurt Loki. The powerful repluser blasted it ten feet back, charred beyond recognition. However, one of the beasts' she was fighting before took the opening and blasted her right in the middle of her back, sending her flying forward. She caught herself quickly enough, however, and threw a miniature grenade behind her. The blast sent the one who hit her and three others back dead.

"Come on, Reindeer Games." With Loki down, protecting him was her main goal. "Get up!"

"Duck." He told her. Without hesitation, she did so. With some magic force, he let out a beam of green light in a full circle, decimating the rest of them. All that was left of them was ash.

The magic had obviously costed him. His breathing was labored and he looked ready to pass out.

"You alright?" Toni asked, finding herself actually concerned with his wellbeing.

"It'll pass." She told him, waving her concern off. "Yourself?"

Her back, leg, and shoulder burned. Her face wasn't better off. "Fine." She told him.

He smiled, a genuine smile. Toni was surprised by how much his smile made her heart race. "Don't you have better things to do?" Surprisingly enough, it was said in a nice tone.

Toni's smile vanished. "Off to save the world…" She paused, starting up her thrusters. "Again."

"Guys," She said into the comms, racing back up to the top of the tower. "I know how to close the portal."

"Stark!" Nick Fury yelled in her ear just as the Captain said "Do it!"

"What, eye patch?" She asked, dragging Dr. Selvig to a safe corner. He was still knocked out from her attempt at destroying the stupid thing.

"We have a missile heading straight to the city."

Her stomach plummeted. "How long?" She asked urgently.

"Three minutes, at best. Stay low and wipe it out."

"Stark, can you hear me? Do it!" Captain yelled.

"Hold on," She said. "JARVIS, everything to the thrusters."

"Anyone close to Stark Tower?" She asked, already finding the missiles coordinates. "I'm a bit busy."

"I got it." Natasha answered, there was a grunt from her end. "I'm already here. What do I do?"

"Grab the scepter, and stick it inside the tesseract. It should close the portal." Finally she had managed to grab the god forsaken thing. Her thruster barely had enough power to steer it off course.

"Stark," Hawkeye asked. "what are you doing?"

"Saving the world." She replied in a casual tone. "There's a missile headed straight for New York, and I know exactly where to put it. Wait for me to send it up there before closing it."

"Stark," The Captain said regretfully. What did he regret? "You know that's a one way trip."

"Save everything for the turn, J." Toni said instead. This was it. This was her moment. She was going to die a hero. What better way to go out? She could do this. This was the one thing she could easily give up.

She imagined Pepper's face. Would she be angry? Would she cry? What about Rhodey? Would he help her? Would either of them care?

She ignored those thoughts. What she was doing was right.

Instead of looking ahead, she looked down. It was better sight. Almost calming.

She could do this. This wasn't a suicide move. She was helping people. She felt a sense of pride for herself. She was finally going to be a hero.

She was inches from the portal now. As she entered, all of her breath left her. The darkness around her meant no power for her suit, and soon enough her suit failed her, error messages coming up the screen. She released the nuke, sending it straight at the massive spaceship. As the explosion wiped over her, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see her death.

Her last thought was of the green eyed god that resembled her in more ways than one.

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 **A/N: Feed the muse! Please review! :D Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to read this!**

 **Title: Second Chances**

 **Description: Toni Maria Stark was a person who believed in second chances. Apparently, having this belief had a habit of getting her in trouble. For example, one green eyed god. When she realizes that Loki may be innocent of all crimes, you better be sure that she's going to try and save him…And find herself along the way. FEMALE TONI. Toni/Loki**

 **Rating: T for Violence and Cussing.**

 **Disclaimer: I literally own nothing.**

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"Son of a gun." Captain said, watching with some form of delight as Stark fell.

"She's not slowing down!" Thor exclaimed, watching as Iron Man continued her quick descent to the ground. Thor began to swing his hammer in order to launch himself in the air, but was stopped by the familiar feel of Loki's magic. Without another thought, he stilled.

"What are you doing?" Black Widow asked in disbelief.

"Wait." Thor said urgently, continuing to watch as Iron Man became closer and closer to the ground.

Before she made it to the tops of the buildings, Loki's green magic surrounded her. Her downward spiral turned into a slow decent to the ground. Within seconds, she was laid down before them.

In another second, Loki was besides Thor, who had teleported there, making everyone else jump.

"Brother!" Thor said jovially, smiling at him. "The Woman of Iron managed to release you from the spell?"

"Wait!" Hawkeye said before Loki could respond. He had an arrow pointed straight at Loki's chest, which wasn't a surprise. "You're telling me that you were being controlled this entire time?"

"I'm sure you would love to put an arrow in my eye, Agent Barton," Loki answered sarcastically. "But why don't we help Stark before engaging in such a ridiculous battle."

"She's not breathing!" Black Widow answered, kneeling besides Stark. "How the hell do I get this armor off?"

"She's in love with her technology, is she not?" Loki asked the group. He limped over to her form. "What does she call that ridiculous talking voice in her house?"

"JARVIS?" Natasha answered.

"JARVIS?" Loki asked. "Remove the suit."

"Access granted." JARVIS answered, much to the surprise of everyone around her. "Code 413 being engaged."

The suit neatly slid itself off of her body. It then stood up on its own, looking like a guarding statue.

What was revealed was shocking. Stark's injuries ranged from bad to worse. Her leg was the first thing that caught the team's eye. It appeared that the suit had slashed open her leg from her knee to the middle of her thigh. Her shoulder wasn't much better. It looked dislocated. Little cuts and bruises covered her face.

Loki's eye, however, was only on the thing in the middle of her chest, and why it wasn't glowing.

Without asking anyone else, he kneeled beside Toni Stark. He held out his hand, palm up and closed his eyes.

"Brother…" Thor said warningly.

"Don't," Loki's eyes flashed open "Call me that." Before anyone could mutter a word of denial, Loki formed a ball of green energy in his hand. A millisecond later, he slammed the ball into her arc reactor.

Toni's reaction was instantaneous. She sprang up from the ground, taking in a large gasp of breath.

"What just happened?" She asked, her eyes wide. "Why do I taste something a kin to a forest?" She spotted Loki next to her. "Holy shit, you're alive." She laughed hysterically. "Barton didn't kill you."

"Still a possibility, Stark." Barton answered, though he had a small smirk on his face.

"What happened?" She asked again, still a little out of it.

"We won." The Captain answered, almost in disbelief.

"Awesome." She replied, meaning it. In a mock version of earlier, Loki held out his hand to her. She smiled at him and took it.

"Ow!" She yelped as soon as her full weight was put on her leg. Loki held her up her weight once again, much to the team's shock. "Freakin' god that hurt like a bitch." She hissed. She leaned against the Iron Man suit. "J, give me that damn shot."

"Ma'am, do you not think that it is more prudent to replace the Arc Reactor?"

"What the frig is wrong with-" She looked down at herself and fell silent. The usual blue glow of the reactor was replaced by a dark mist of a forest green color. It swirled inside the arc reactor, instead of being a solid color. It was beautiful.

"My magic," Loki explained, also looking at her technology, picking up on her shocked expression. "it is one of the most powerful sources of energy."

She shook her head. "I am probably the most wanted woman in all of science right now. I literally have magic running through my veins." Was her only answer. "Where's Banner? I want – no, need – to pick his brain."

"Last time I saw him," Barton answered, his bow still in his hand but not drawn. "he was transforming back near your tower."

She pointed dramatically at him… Which turned out looking really pathetic because all she could do was lean on her suit and limp a little bit. "Good idea!"

"What?" He asked.

"Going back to the tower. I like it. Sleep sounds wonderful."

"Sorry, but I'm not going anywhere until someone explains how he-" Rogers made a gesture a Loki. "is innocent."

Toni turned to Natasha. "You're telling me you didn't see it?" Natasha raised an eyebrow at her. "You didn't notice the whole 'blue eyed' thing?"

Natasha looked at Loki. He continued to look bored, something he had managed to do for the entire conversation.

"The master spy didn't see it and I did." She let a laugh. "I'm awesome."

"Get on with it, Stark." Barton said, clearly annoyed at her. He couldn't blame her. What with everything that happened, Toni was still attempting to catch up with her brain. It was constantly switching back between what happened in the portal and what was going on now. Loki, who still had his arm on her shoulder to help balance her, was not helping the situation. His presence was just confusing in general. Why didn't he run away yet?

"In everyone single story of these two," She gestured to the gods in question. "Thor and Loki are known as two things: Thor is the god of lightning, Loki is the god of Mischief. However, in each of Loki's tales, Loki had green _everything._ "

She paused. "Is that a real thing? Because if so you have a really odd fetish."

He glared at her. It was the only thing she need to get her back on track.

" _Anyway_ , Loki's eyes, the entire time, have been blue, the same shade as yours, Barton."

"And that just proves that he's innocent?" Barton demanded. "He was the one who start all of this."

"Loki," She faked stage whispered, "Help me out here."

He glared at her again. The glaring, it appeared, would never end. "I was sent here by someone called the Avenger of Death."

"Awesome!" Toni cut in. "See, he said he's innocent." She let out a breath of air. "I'm tired, I'm in pain, there's magic I don't know about running through my system that might cause me damage later, I'm heading back to the tower."

Silence followed her. Rogers folded his arms.

She groaned. "SHIELD will be here any minute now. Can we, for the sake of a break from – mostly – testosterone filled fights, go back to the tower? I'll keep an eye on 'glare's a lot,' I swear."

"I do not need to be-"

"Stark's got a point." The Captain said, cutting off Loki's clear displeasure at the idea. She didn't know how much longer he would take of their bickering, nor did she know how much longer she could stay upright. "We're all tired, and SHIELD can wait a couple hours."

"Spangles," She said, "Forget these two, you are a god." Barton chocked on his laughter. "J, bring 'em here."

The eyes on the suit lite up blue. She held up her arms, revealing the metal wrist bands.

"Miss, thruster three appears to be malfunctioning." She whined at JARVIS' comment. She limped over to the left side of the suit.

"Wait," Barton said, looking perplexed. "If that… Thing." He made an odd gesture at the suit.

"JARVIS." Toni answered. She tapped the boot of the suit. "He's an AI."

"A what?" Captain asked.

"Holy mother of – he's a computer that has his own thought system." She answered impatiently.

"Miss, it appears that the latch is molded shut."

"Yes, I see that." She grumbled. "What's your question, Barton?"

"If JARVIS can control the suit, why are you actually – you know – still fighting?"

She paused. "Because, even if I trust my programming, JARVIS is still just that… a computer program. He would do what's best in every sense of the word. If you could save five people, but risk losing one, he would do it." She interrupted her speech with a curse word. It appeared that the suit cut her finger.

"I believe that everyone has to be saved," She said quietly, not looking anyone in the eye. "No matter what the cost. No one gets left behind."

She shook her head, attempting to get rid of the pensive atmosphere she created. "Rogers, I need your muscle."

He kneeled next to her. His aggressive opinion of her has seemed to vanish after her little speech. She tried not to let it bother her. "What do you need?" He asked, not unkindly.

"Actually, I need something from everyone." She realized. "However, you," He poked Captain on the shoulder. "remove that little thing right there."

She pointed at the panel. It was molded shut on two sides of it by what look like a blast from one of the Chitauri. Quick enough, Steve ripped right through. What was reveal was a mass of sparking wires.

"Barton, hand me an arrow."

"But it's my last one." He whined. None the less, after the glare he got from everyone him, he gently threw it over to her.

"Don't worry, egg head." She said, easily catching it. She winced internally at the insulting name 'egg head'. What the hell kind of nickname was that? It didn't even make sense. "I'll give you some more. Better than SHIELD's at least."

Wait, _what_? What the hell did she just say? She didn't even build weapons for Rhodey anymore. Why would she willing build them for someone that she just met?

" _Because he helped you."_ Her brain whispered to her. " _You_ trust _him now."_

"Really!" Barton asked, now smiling. He looked like a giddy child. She ignored the inner voice in her head, attempting to focus once more. Loki, it seemed, had also seen the look of confusion on her face a moment ago. However, much to her relief, he didn't comment on it.

"Don't tell anyone." She muttered, using the tip of the arrow to move wires around. One sparked, causing the Captain to jump.

"Easy there, red white and blue." She joked, "still need you to get yourself back to the tower. I sure as hell ain't dragging you there."

He blushed, much to the delight of Toni. "Alright, Sparky." Toni said, throwing a thumb in Thor's direction.

"I?" Thor asked, honestly confused.

She rolled her eyes at him. "No, the other god of thunder standing next to you – of course Goldilocks, come here."

He hesitantly walked over to her. Loki rolled his eyes at his behavior. She, in favor, ignored the whole quiet exchange.

"What's the smallest spark you can make?" She asked him. The Captain was now, once again, next to Natasha who seemed impatient. Toni wondered about that for a moment, but she ignored her curiosity. This was not the time to figure out everyone's motives.

Before Thor could respond, Loki let out a full blown "ha" that was mix of sarcasm and disbelief. The noise caused all of the Avengers to turn his head towards him, including the now annoyed Thor.

"I apologize," Loki said, a smirk on his face that confirmed that it was far from an apology. "but you want the buffoon, the one who favors grander shows of his power, to create a spark small enough to fix something that is beyond his understanding?"

Toni raised an eyebrow at him, unwilling to let him get away with his… mostly insane question. "What, Doctor Doom II, you got a better idea?"

Loki took it exactly as Toni expected him to; as a challenge. He glared at her with more malicious than it was before, but she held her ground. Actually, the stare was so convincing that she could feel herself tense. Was Loki really going to try something now? For a brief second, she realized that danger that is Loki.

Without saying another word, he flicked her hand in her direction. Before she even had a concept of 'protecting herself' the small magic made the two wires that she was trying to connect fuse together. In her shock, the breath that she was holding in came out as a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Point Break," She fake whispered to Thor, who was equally surprised that his brother didn't do anything. "Your adoptive brother is either a genius or a psychopath. Possibly both. Probably both."

But really, Loki continued to throw her for a loop. Everything about the man screamed aggressive, yet he continued to good when dealing with her. Was this to prove to his brother that he was innocent? That must be it. Loki is literally the god of second motives.

"I am not someone who tolerates words against my person." He practically _growled_ the phrase.

"Right," She said, once again ignoring the tension in the air. "I am not having this discussion right now." She looked again from his green glaring eyes. "One more thing…" She muttered. "Natasha, get your curvy hip bones over here."

"Stark…" She snarled, sounding very unimpressed at her so-called compliment.

"No worries, red-head." She continued, "you get the fun part." She gently tapped her dislocated shoulder. "Fix it."

"I object!" Thor boomed, looking worried. "Should you not see a healer to do such things?"

"Would love to, blondie," She responded, slamming her eyes closed as Natasha walked over to her. "If I pass out from this one, any reasonable doctor would steal my chest piece in the blink of – MOTHER FUCKER!"

And with that, her shoulder was forcibly put back into place. The pain was intense, but nothing should couldn't handle. If anything, as soon as it was over, the pain receded faster than she expected. She took a few deep breaths anyway.

"Well, that was fun." She told the group, looking at her like she was crazy. She couldn't blame that. She was saying and doing some pretty ridiculous things right now. "but I'm sure Bruce is still lying naked outside my tower, and I would rather not let the poor dude literally sweat his balls off."

The Captain blushed at her foul mouth.

"J, bring her over here." She told him.

"Miss Stark," JARVIS said as the suit neatly slide onto her person. "Mrs. Potts would like to inform you that you are 'so dead that not even her name on a lease can't save you.'"

She whistled. "Yup, I'm dead." She muttered. "J, get me there faster than a business man running to a whore."

"Stark!" Rogers cried, taking that comment as the last straw.

"See you there!" She cried, racing off towards the tower.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The flight there, Toni would like to say, was undramatic. She would of loved to say that she got there in a manner of minutes, lifted Banner from the floor, offered to show him her lab, met up with the other Avengers, take in Loki's glare and sent him up on the couch, and went to sleep without any troubles.

However, the list of troubles grew on her seven minute flight alone.

Toni had never felt this way before. Her mind was scattered brain and fuzzy, and her heart was beating a miles a minute. She felt detached from her body; like a programmed robot just going through the motions. She was still in the air, letting JARVIS handle the ride home, something she rarely does because she _enjoys_ the rush she gets in the suit. However, her hands were clammy and everything was just unfamiliar and uncomfortable. She had nothing to rely on.

It was pure madness.

Toni's greatest strength was being able to think when in stressful situations. Not being able to do that was appalling. It felt like she left part of herself somewhere safe, but then forget where she put it. Her usually snarky and sarcastic personality was left back with her so-called team, and emotional yet somehow empty shell was put in its place.

There was so much that happened in the last hour. She couldn't process it. It would be so god damn simple to just forget everything in this one moment. She had almost died! She willingly took a nuke into space, knowing full well what that meant.

She had made the sacrifice play, and was now messed up because of it.

And that lead her to her next question: Who did she trust? She couldn't function like this forever, and she needed time to restart her brain. Who could she trust to fill her shoes for a day or two?

The first person that came to her mind was Pepper. She was everything to her. She was what kept him fighting. She was what kept him grounded. For twelve years she looked after him and cleaned up her messes without complaining. Pepper stayed by her side even when things got dangerous. She could handle anything and everything without even batting an eye.

... But she would die before she let her deal with all this. Hell, Toni would kill herself before she let Pepper deal with this mess by herself. Not even perfect Pepper could handle the Avengers… and Loki.

The second person: Rhodey. But Rhodey already had a suit. War Machine may be full of weapons that even she was afraid of, but it still got the job done. But how could Toni trust him after the incident at Malibu? But Rhodey was a better solider than she was. He would follow orders without hesitation or complaints. But was that a good thing? Could Rhodey handle fighting for other people's lives without getting orders or would he let Captain America order him around? That would be the last thing Toni wanted.

And then there was... No one.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. She felt- god dammit she didn't know what he felt. Empty? Useless? Horrible? Were there even words to describe the unending, devastating feeling she had in the pit of her stomach? It was an endless circle of hate towards herself. Could he ever stop it? Could someone stop it? Then again who was going to stop it? She had no one after all.

All of a sudden, everything became clear to her.

Toni Stark didn't let other people get into her head. All of this – her pain, her thoughts, her trust – it started because of _her own actions._ Not by trusting other people or listening to orders. All of this was because of her.

Somehow, this revelation made it easier to breath. She was still in control. She could fix this. She could handle Loki and the Avengers.

She _did_ trust them, but that didn't matter. She could ignore her own death wish later. She had a responsibility to uphold. She owed that to the people of New York.

So, as she landed on the spinning rims, she plastered on the most confident aura she could. She was Toni motherfucking Stark, and nothing had changed. She could deal with her decisions later.

Right now, she had to deal with Pepper.

"What the hell were you thinking!" Pepper cried, running up to her and giving her the biggest hug known to mankind. Not expecting that response, Toni froze in her embrace, not really sure what to do.

"Toni, you could have _died._ " Pepper said, pulling away to look directly into Toni's eyes. What Toni found were blue eyes clouded with tears. Guilt quickly formed in her stomach.

"I know, Pep." Toni answered, voice near a whisper. "But I'm fine." Toni could almost taste the way the lie rolled off her tongue. "See, back in one – obviously perfect – piece." Toni smiled at her, attempting to cheer the teary aided assistant up.

Her words only brought more tears, much to the shock of Toni. Pepper was never this emotional.

"Pep…" Toni said, this time pulling her into a hug. She wasn't one to hug, but Pepper refused to stop crying, and she saw no other solution. "Seriously, I'm fine. It's alright."

Pepper chocked back more tears. "Rhodey's pissed." She told her, still crying a little bit. Pepper used her hand to wipe away some of the tears. "He's on his way over now."

"Damn." Toni replied. She was not interested in dealing with a pissed off older brother. She was already dealing with an emotional older sister.

Pepper smacked her hard on the arm.

"Ow!" Toni cried, cradling it. It had actually hurt! "What the hell?"

"You're an idiot!" Was Pepper's heated response. "I should make you go to like, fifteen, board meetings."

Toni's eyes widen in mock fear. "Fifteen, Pep? Isn't that being a bit dramatic?"

"Shut up, you idiot." Pepper chuckled.

Toni smiled back at her.

There was a calm moment of silence where both of them just appreciated the other's company, but then Toni remembered her other responsibilities.

"Shit!" She said, hobbling over to the elevator. "Bruce is still outside!"

"Bruce?" Pepper asked, having no idea what's going on. "Who's Bruce?"

Toni had no time to answer her, by the time Pepper got over Toni's sudden burst of energy, the elevator's doors closed, and she was off the grab Bruce.

"How's he doing, J?" She asked, waiting impatiently as the elevator descended. Her leg, which was now proaped up on one of the railings, wasn't helping her impatience.

Shit, she was going to need to call a medic, wasn't she? Crap.

"Bruce Banner, along with the rest of the Avengers and Loki, are waiting outside, currently attempting to gain access inside. I would like to mention that Black Widow has successfully pushed back the first fire wall, but is stuck on the second."

Toni nodded. "I'm impressed. I'll let 'em up myself, J."

"Of course, Miss."

And with that, the elevator promptly opened, revealing the faces of the rag tag team. Everyone, besides Bruce (who looked ready to fall asleep), looked mildly angry at her.

"What I do?" She asked.

"Really, Stark?" Natasha answered, rising a (mostly) innocent eyebrow at her. "We've been waiting for two minutes."

I rolled my eyes. "Now I'm waiting on you. Let's go."

To say the elevator ride was awkward was putting it mildly. No one wanted to be next to the God of Lies, and therefore Toni was left with the job. She was constantly bumping into him to the less than adequate room, and he seemed to barely tolerate the action. Not only was Loki and issue, the silence alone was enough to drive Toni to drink.

Fortunately, the elevator ride was just that; and elevator ride. The hell ended in only a minute.

However, the next hell had just begun.

Pepper instantly greeted the group, her eyes finding Toni immediately. Unlike before, when she was just glad that Toni was alive, she looked ready to kill.

"Pepper Potts," Toni said, pushing past the rest of them before the rest of the group before they could get out. "meet the rag tag team."

Everyone moved out of the elevator and spread themselves out, allowing Pepper to view them.

Her eyes widened dramatically. However, it wasn't by awe or anything pleasant, it was out of anger. Her lips had formed a straight line, and if looks could kill Toni would be dead on the floor.

Pepper, however, took it in stride. She knew that all of the yelling could continue later. Instead of bothering to greet any of them, she asked "whoever needs medical attention, raise their hands."

No one moved, Toni included.

"Toni Stark, I swear to god, if you don't raise your hand, I'm going to toss you out of the shattered window."

Toni dramatically raised her hand after Pepper's threat. She had no doubt that Pepper would find some other way to torture her if she didn't.

"Whipped." Clint muttered to Natasha, who smiled slightly.

Pepper and Toni raised their eyebrows at him. "Alright, Barton." Toni told him, acting uncaring. "No arrows for you."

Fake fear flashed through Barton eyes and he raised his hand. "Gotta admit, I'd love some Stark arrows."

"No one else?" Pepper threatened, looking menacing with her smile.

An idea flashed inside Toni's chaotic mind. "JARVIS, activate protocol seven six. No info leaves this room, but dial up the trusted Doc."

"Activating protocol." There was silence for a moment. "It appears that you, Miss, have a linear femur fracture, along with other mild to severe bruising and cuts along your persons. Some cuts require stitches, including the head wound and cuts on your back. The arc reactor is functioning normally, along with your heart rate, but compounds used inside the device cannot be detected. Chemical unknown."

Bruce sprang to life at JARVIS words. "Magic can be defined as a chemical?"

"Question unable to be answered at this time." JARVIS told him.

"Who cares about that!" Pepper exploded, looking nervous. "Why is it _green_?! _"_

Toni pointed an offending finger at Loki. "He did it!" She exclaimed. "Okay, he saved my life, so cool, but he did it."

Loki raised an eyebrow at her, looking anything but impressed. Pepper continued to glare at Toni.

"I'll get a new one as soon as this is over." Toni told her, ignoring the concern. Not in front of everyone. "JARVIS, the others."

"Scan detects Agent Clint Barton having trouble breathing. This is probably due to two broken ribs."

Clint shrugged, "I'll be fine."

The only response to that was a rather hard slap on the back of the head from Natasha.

"Natasha Romanoff has a sprained ankle, along with a deep cut on her stomach that requires stitches."

She shrugged. "I've had worse."

Of that, Toni was sure, she had no doubt.

"Captain Steven Rogers and Thor seemed to have little to no injures, but video evidence revels that both should be suffering from more grievous injuries."

Both shrugged. "Asgardians heal fast." Thor answered as Steve replied "I heal fast." At the same time.

Toni, for the life of her, could no longer stay awake. As soon as the little diagnoses of everyone was done, all of her energy was snapped out her so fast that she ended up leaning on the bar. She couldn't stop herself from panicking at her quickly weakling strength.

"Toni?" Pepper asked, frantically moving to her side. She put her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine." She muttered, the last thought on her mind being the concern for her wellbeing by her teammates. "Just tired."

But she knew it was a lie. This wasn't tired, this was something else. What the hell was going on? Before she knew it, spots danced in her vision. Her weight became too much for her and she felt herself crash to the ground.

And that's when she felt it. The pieces ledged inside of her body began to make its slow path to her heart. Without having to look down, she knew that her arc reactor had died.

There was movement. Someone was yelling. People were moving her; pushing her, touching her chest, holding her hand.

The pain lessened. Her vision dimmed.

And the only thing she could remember were a pair of green eyes staring at her with wide, fearful eyes.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

 **A/N: So, I would love to explain this chapter. First, so much dialogue! Oh my gosh, there was so much it was hard to write.**

 **Let me explain why there is so much dialogue: I really want to focus on the team and the dynamics, but I want the story to progress with Loki and Toni's relationship as the main plot. However, I still want Toni to be with the Avengers. They're important later, so I need them to have some team bonding.**

 **So, that's why this chapter feels… Choppy. It's fast, it riveting, and it's about explaining the characters actions and thoughts.**

 **Update times: I hope to update every two weeks. So far, it looks like that's going to work.**

 **A/N: Reviews feed the muse! Please feed a hunger author. Thanks for reading!**


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